DALLAS The first case of Ebola diagnosed in the USA it was confirmed Tuesday in a patient who recently traveled from Liberia to Dallas - a sign of the far-reaching impact of the epidemic out of control in West Africa.
The unidentified man was seriously ill and has been in isolation in Health Presbyterian Hospital of Texas since Sunday, federal health officials said. They would not reveal their nationality or age.
The authorities have begun to locate family members, friends and any other person who may have been in contact with him and could be at risk of getting sick. But officials said no other suspected cases in Texas.
In the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Disease, Director Tom Frieden said the man went to Liberia on September 19, arrived the next day to visit family and started to feel sick four or five days later. He said it was unclear how the patient became infected.
There was no risk to fellow passengers tickets because the man had no symptoms while traveling, Frieden said.
Ebola symptoms can include fever, muscle pain, vomiting and bleeding and may occur up to 21 days after exposure to the virus. The disease is not contagious until symptoms begin, and close contact with body fluids is needed to spread.
"The bottom line here is that I have no doubt we will control the importation, or the case of Ebola, so that is not widely spread in this country," Frieden told reporters.
"Surely it is possible for someone who had contact with this individual, a family member or other person, Ebola could develop in the coming weeks," he added. "But there is no doubt in my mind that we will stop here."
President Barack Obama was informed of the diagnosis in a call Frieden, the White House said.
Word of infection alarmed local Liberian community.
"People have been calling, trying to find out if anyone knows the family," said Stanley Gaye, president of the Association of Liberia Community of Dallas-Fort Worth. "We've been telling people to try to stay away from social gatherings."
Four American aid workers who were infected in West Africa have been flown back to the USA for treatment after he became sick. They were treated in special isolation facilities in hospitals in Atlanta and Nebraska. Three recovered.
In addition, an American physician exposed to the virus in Sierra Leone is under observation in a similar center at the National Institutes of Health.
The USA has only four isolation units. Asked if the patient moved to Texas one of those specialized facilities, Frieden said there was no need and virtually any hospital can provide the control of attention and proper infection.
Dr. Edward Goodman, an epidemiologist at the hospital, said the USA was much better prepared to handle the disease than African hospitals, which are often short of doctors, gloves, gowns and masks.
"We have no such problems. So we are perfectly capable of taking care of this patient without risk to other people," Goodman said.
After arriving in the USA September 20, the man began to develop symptoms last Wednesday and initially sought care two days later. But it was released. At the time, hospital officials did not know who had been in West Africa. He returned later as his condition worsened.
Blood tests by Texas health officials and CDC separately confirmed a diagnosis of Ebola Tuesday.
Public health officials described the patient as seriously ill. Goodman said he was able to communicate and hungry.
The hospital is discussing whether experimental treatments would be appropriate, Frieden said.
Since the summer months, health officials from the United States have been preparing for the possibility that a traveler could unknowingly arrive to the infection. Health authorities have advised hospitals on how to prevent the spread of the virus within its facilities.
People who climb the aircraft in the outbreak area are checked for fever, but that does not guarantee that an infected person will not get through.
Liberia is one of the three countries most affected by the epidemic, along with Sierra Leone and Guinea.
It is believed that Ebola has sickened more than 6,500 people in West Africa, and more than 3,000 deaths have been linked to the disease, according to the World Health Organization. But even tolls are probably underestimated, in part because there are not enough people laboratories to test for Ebola.
Two mobile laboratories Ebola served by American naval investigators arrived this weekend and will be in operation this week, according to the American Embassy in Monrovia. Laboratories the amount of time it takes to find out if a patient has Ebola from several days to a few hours will be reduced.
The American military also provided equipment to build a hospital, originally designed to treat the troops in combat zones. The clinic of 25 beds will be attended by health personnel of the United States and try to doctors and nurses who have been infected. The USA plans to build 17 other clinics in Liberia and help train more health workers to staff them.
